PROJECTSUMMARY TheproposedUniversityofKentuckyCenterforCancerandMetabolism(CCM)isdesignedtoaddressa significantgapincancerresearchbyprovidingthemultidisciplinaryinfrastructuretosupportcareer developmentintheareaofmetabolicreprogrammingofthetumormicroenvironment.Routineandhigh-end imagingconstituteacriticalcomponentofthiseffort,astheabilitytovisualizeandquantifytargetmolecules andtheireffectsoncellularstructureandfunctionareheavilydependentontheavailabilityandqualityofthe imagingsystems.TheImagingCoreinthisapplicationwillprovidetechnicalservicesandsupportforCCM projectresearchlaboratoriesandpilotprojectrecipientsandiswellpositionedtoadvancetheCCMmissionin cancerandmetabolismthroughdeliveryofanexpandedrangeofimagingservicestoCOBREinvestigators andothers.ThiswillbeaccomplishedbytheachievementofthreeSpecificAims:SpecificAim1.Toprovide project-specifictrainingandconsultationforCOBREinvestigators.SpecificAim2.Todevelopand/oradapt state-of-theartimagingtechniquestoenhancetheresearchofearly-stageandpilotprojectCOBRE investigators.SpecificAim3.Todevelopandimplementnewmethods,suchasproject-specificsample preparation,toenhanceCCMimagingservicesandmakesuchservicesavailabletoCOBREandnon-COBRE users.ImagingCoreuserswillhaveaccesstothisno-costfacilitywhereinvestigatorscanevaluatetheirtissue orcellularsamplesusingvarioustypesofinstruments.Thecorewillalsosupportroutineanalysisaswellas introduceinvestigatorstohigh-endimagingoptionsandcapabilitiesrelevanttotheirstudies,therebyfacilitating theresearchsuccessesoftheseusers.Dr.JianhangJia,theDirectoroftheImagingCore,isahighly productiveinvestigatorwhohassuccessfullyobtainedsubstantialextramuralresearchsupportthatrelies extensivelyonsophisticatedimagingcapabilities.Hehas,thus,investedextensiveeffortinthedevelopment andimprovementofinstrumentationwithintheMarkeyCancerCenter.HewillconsultwithCCMinvestigators onthedesignofexperimentsusingimagingmodalities,arolethatheassumedinguidingthedevelopmentof thefourCCMresearchprojectsinthisapplication.